Costa Blanca (Valencian Community)
Benidorm Old Town and Balcon del Mar
The rocky headland between Benidorm's two beaches: tapas lanes, the blue-domed church and the Balcon del Mar viewpoint, free to wander and best saved for an evening.
Where
Benidorm, Spain
Opening hours
Open access (always open) for the streets and the viewpoint. The tapas bars, restaurants and shops keep their own hours, liveliest from early evening; the church opens around services.
Tickets
Free to wander — no ticket for the streets, the church exterior or the Balcon del Mar viewpoint. You only spend on tapas, drinks or shopping.
Time needed
An evening: an hour or two for the lanes and viewpoint, longer if you settle in for tapas and drinks as the sun goes down.
In short
Visiting Benidorm Old Town and Balcon del Mar
On the rocky headland dividing Levante and Poniente sits the Old Town: a tangle of tapas lanes, the blue-domed church and the Balcon del Mar viewpoint looking out over the bay and the island. It's all free to wander, and the trick is to come in the evening for the bars and the sunset rather than expecting a grand sight by day.
The headland between the beaches
It surprises people that Benidorm has an old town at all, but it does — perched on the rocky headland that splits Levante and Poniente, above the high-rise sprawl. Wander up off the seafront and the scale changes: narrow lanes, a blue-domed church (Sant Jaume i Santa Anna), small tapas bars and shops crammed into the streets. None of it costs anything to walk through; you only spend if you stop for food or drink.
The set piece is the Balcon del Mar, the little clifftop viewpoint with a blue-and-white tiled balustrade at the very tip of the headland. From here the view opens over the whole bay, both beaches curving away and Benidorm Island sitting offshore. It’s free, it’s the prettiest spot in town, and it’s the photo everyone comes for.
How to do it well
The honest advice is to treat this as an evening, not a daytime sight. By day the Old Town is pleasant but quiet and the heat is fierce on the exposed headland. Come from early evening and it transforms — the tapas bars fill, the lanes feel genuinely Spanish, and the Balcon del Mar is the place to be as the sun drops behind Poniente.
A couple of practical notes. The lanes are narrow and a bit steep, so wear something other than flip-flops, and the best tapas places sit just back from the obvious tourist run, so explore a street or two in. Don’t arrive expecting a grand monument: this is a small, atmospheric old quarter, not a sight in the museum sense. But as a free counterweight to the towers and the strip, it’s the part of Benidorm most people are glad they didn’t skip — go for dinner, stay for the sunset, and you’ll see the resort at its best.
Planning the rest of your trip? See the Benidorm city guide.
